The present invention relates to a method of packaging a receptacle with a product comprising different miscible ingredients.
Filling installations are known, for example installations using rotary carrousels that comprise a feed vessel associated with a series of filling stations. When a product comprising a mixture of different miscible ingredients is to be introduced into the receptacles, the mixture is initially prepared with all of its ingredients and it is introduced into the feed vessel prior to putting the filling installation into operation. Such a packaging method is satisfactory when a very large number of receptacles are to be filled with a product of constant composition, and when the total volume of the filled receptacles corresponds substantially to the content of the feed vessel.
Nevertheless, when it is desired to change the composition of the product to be packaged, for example when it is desired to switch from packaging a whole milk to a semi-skimmed milk or a skimmed milk, or when packaging a product in which the properties vary as a function of the different ingredients mixed together, it is necessary initially to calculate the quantity of product that is to be introduced into the feed vessel of the installation as a function of receptacles that are to be filled, and then to clean the feed vessel and fill it with the new product that is to be packaged.
This gives rise to a significant loss of time every time the product is changed, so it is not economically conceivable to package different products in short runs, each comprising a small number of receptacles. When batches comprising receptacles containing different products need to be prepared, it is therefore necessary to package each product in a long run of receptacles which are stored and which must subsequently be handled so as to make up different batches. Those various operations significantly increase the overall cost of packaging.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,211 discloses a machine for making up paint to a color on demand, starting from a base tint. That machine has a single filling station and it is necessary to store pots containing the various base tints. That machine is therefore not suitable for quickly making up batches of pots of respective particular compositions.
Patent documents Nos. GB 2 178 015 and EP 0 853 041 disclose an installation comprising two filling machines interconnected by a transfer device. Nevertheless, that installation is not intended for mixing different ingredients but for packaging a single substance that tends to foam, with filling in two stages being provided merely to allow the foam to collapse prior to finishing off filling. Those documents contain no hint suggesting the use of a similar installation for packaging products of various compositions.
The invention provides a method of packaging receptacles with a product comprising different miscible ingredients, the method comprising the steps of filling receptacles partially with a portion of the ingredients in a first filling unit comprising a series of filling stations, of transferring the receptacles to at least one second filling unit likewise comprising a series of filling stations, and of successively finishing off filling of the receptacles with the remainder of the ingredients.
Thus, merely by modifying the proportions of the ingredients introduced into a receptacle at each of the filling units, and without it being necessary to modify the composition of the substance in the filling vessel in each filling unit, it is possible to obtain at the outlet from the installation receptacles that contain products with various compositions. In particular, when packaging milk, it suffices to provide two filling units, with the feed vessel of one of them containing whole milk while the feed vessel of the other filling unit contains skimmed milk, thus enabling batches of bottles to be made up comprising bottles that contain whole milk, bottles that contain semi-skimmed milk, and bottles that contain skimmed milk.
In an advantageous version of the method of the invention, the ingredients introduced into a receptacle in each filling unit are determined to correspond with the receptacle, e.g. by reading a code carried by the receptacle. Each receptacle thus automatically receives the various ingredients for making up the composition specified for that receptacle.